


Bleeding Love

by supergirrl



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Mad Max: Fury Road
Genre: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 04:02:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7152629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supergirrl/pseuds/supergirrl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the week of Capable's wedding, and Toast is very stressed out.  Thankfully, Slit is there to help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bleeding Love

The run-up to Capable’s wedding was a blur, with hectic months of dress fittings and cake tasting and attending bridal conventions every weekend and in the evenings, to the point where Toast was starting to feel like she was the one marrying Capable, instead of Nux. In the modern world, apparently even a relatively small, simple wedding required roughly the same amount of planning as a cross-coastal move, and after a few weeks of attempting it on her own, Capable was floundering and needed help.

But since Nux just agreed with everything Capable said, being too in love with her to care what kind of food would be provided, or even if there was food at all, he was no help. Angharad lived far away, Cheedo’s schedule was crammed full with school and her vocal lessons, and Dag had earned a lifetime ban from all local bridal boutiques for engaging in acts of civil disobedience (such as chaining herself to the doors) to protest their support of the fur industry. Personally, Toast had some questions for the hetero- and cisnormative, racist, and sizeist wedding industrial complex and its toxic effects on women, but someone needed to help Capable plan the damn thing, so Toast had bitten her tongue and stepped in.

Despite all the stress, Toast had been looking forward to the wedding itself, and particularly the days she would spend with her family at the B&B before the wedding. Hiking and canoeing in the nearby national park with her sisters, family dinners, and romantic nights and cozy evenings with her boyfriend Slit; she could hardly wait.

Yet she hadn’t counted on her damn period coming, and so here she was, curled up in a miserable, grumpy ball, alone in her and Slit’s room. He had gone out to buy her tampons, and she had felt too bad to accompany him.

It wasn’t just the usual physical discomfort that was upsetting her. The arrival of her period meant that, after three months of trying, she still wasn’t pregnant. She supposed that, on some subconscious level, that was why she hadn’t packed her tampons for this trip…she had hoped that by not bringing them, her period wouldn’t come.

The whole situation was made even more difficult because she hadn’t told her sisters that she was trying to get pregnant.

It was strange to be doing something so major that her sisters didn’t know about, since normally they kept each other continually updated on everything in their lives. Toast hadn’t wanted to distract from Capable’s upcoming nuptials, and, if she was honest with herself, when the time came she wanted some time to process the news of her pregnancy on her own before experiencing her sisters’ reactions.

Because she knew exactly what they would do. Dag would immediately start mixing up herbal concoctions for Toast to ingest or rub on her belly or who knows where-and Toast had learned her lesson about accepting Dag’s ‘medicines’, which sometimes contained hallucinogens-, Capable researching like a madwoman and presenting her with a comprehensive list of the best, safest maternity/baby products on the market, Cheedo knitting all the gender-neutral baby outfits any child could possibly need. Angharad would cry, and although they would be tears of joy, Toast knew she would cry too, because her sisters’ tears were the only things that could make her weep.

Her sisters were her soul-mates, but it was difficult sometimes, feeling their emotions almost as strongly as her own. They shared everything, knew every detail of each other’s jobs and relationships and daily lives, and she wanted this to be her own, if only for a little while.

But she would tell them soon, she vowed. Either because she was pregnant and a courthouse wedding was happening (Capable and Nux’s wedding planning had taken away any desire Toast or Slit had for a big wedding, and anyway it was the tax benefits that mattered most), or if she decided to start fertility treatments. But they’d only been trying for three months…so hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

The vibration of her phone from where it sat perched on the mattress a few inches from her face startled her, and she flipped it over to see a text from Slit.

_some mediocre fuck just called me whipped cuz im buying tampons for u_

Toast rolled her eyes. Was there anything quite so fragile as toxic hypermasculinity? She would never understand why cis men were so threatened by menstruation, and was grateful that her partner was an exception. Scrolling down, she saw Slit’s follow-up text.

_im gonna fight him_

Despite all his posturing, Slit’s brawling days were behind him, and Toast was (fairly) certain that he would settle for glowering at the man. Sure enough, a moment later another text popped up on her phone.

_nvr mind just remembered ur fam is a goddamn biker gang and i dont wanna miss the wedding bc im dead/in jail_

She giggled at the thought of her grannies chasing after him on their bikes, Furiosa in the lead. Her family had accepted Slit but he was always on his best behavior around them, which she supposed wasn’t the worst thing. She responded:

_If you ruin Capable’s wedding my family will be the least of your concerns, my love. Nux will kill you and then never speak to you again._

_tru. dont worry, package has been secured, red leader. en route to ur location_

Toast squinted at her phone, confused by the combination of chat speak and spy talk, but before she could reply, another message popped up.

_im on my way back with your tampons_

This text was accompanied by a selfie, with Slit holding the box up to his face and gazing into the camera with what he must have thought was a sultry expression.

Then three emojis: a lizard, a heart, and a loaf of bread. His weird, shorthand way of saying ‘Slit loves Toast’. She felt a flutter of happiness, and smiled.

 

She must have dozed off, because the sound of Slit’s key in the door woke her from a light sleep.  

Toast felt a rush of love at the sight of him holding her box of tampons, looking so manly and competent and sexy. It must have been the hormones, she thought, making her melt just by standing there. Suddenly, she had an idea. She wanted him, badly, and even though she wasn’t at her most fertile now, it certainly didn’t mean there weren’t other ways to enjoy themselves.

“So menstrual cramps are caused by muscle contractions of the uterus, right?” Toast stretched, arching her back up off the bed and watching how Slit’s gaze moved appreciatively down her body. No matter what she was wearing, he always looked at her like she was the most beautiful person alive, and it felt so good.

“Yeah?”

She hiked her shirt up slightly, revealing a strip of her bare abdomen. “I think it might be good for me if I exercised those muscles. For medical reasons, of course. Do you have any ideas on how I could do that?” She didn’t think she was being too subtle, but just in case, she spread her legs and smiled enticingly.

He licked his lips and grinned at her wolfishly. Toast felt a ripple of anticipation at the gleam of his tongue ring and began to shimmy out of her clothes. Slit tossed her a towel, and she positioned it under her hips as he stripped. After he peeled off his shirt-and no matter how many times she saw it, Toast _never_ got tired of seeing his chest-and positioned himself between her thighs, he murmured, “They say brave men walk the red river, heroes swim in it. But fuck that, fuck being a hero and all that shit. Just wanna make you happy.”

And he certainly did.

 

As Toast slowly woke up, she became aware that her cramps were mild to the point of being practically nonexistent. She wasn’t sure whether to give the ibuprofen or Slit’s ministrations the credit, but either way, she was extremely grateful.

When Toast heard a slight rustling sound come from the corner of the room, she glanced over and saw the eldest of her grannies, Giddy, sitting in one of the chairs, sketching something carefully with her trembling fingers. Although she could no longer hold a tattoo gun herself, she still designed tattoos, which Dag would then apply to their customers.

“Morning, Giddy. How’d you get in here?”

Without looking up from her drawing, she replied, “Your young man let me in, he’s off fishing with Nux and that fellow of your mother’s.”

Toast had to hide her grin behind her hand. Although Giddy liked Nux and tolerated Slit, Max’s former career as a cop forever tainted him in her eyes, and she refused to refer to him by name. “You’ll have to acknowledge Max someday; he and Furiosa have been together for over a decade, ever since she adopted us. If we’re family, then he is too.”

She took a moment to savor the mental image of Slit sitting with Max and Nux in a rowboat somewhere holding fishing poles. When they’d met, he would have been more likely to stick a fishhook through his lip and wear it than try to catch a fish with it.

Giddy scoffed and set her notebook to the side. “I suppose. Come sit with me, dearest.”

Toast rolled out of bed and squeezed into the seat beside her granny. They were both so small that they fit together in the chair easily, and Toast leaned her head on Giddy’s slim shoulder.

“I’m so proud of you and your sisters, and the remarkable women you’ve become. When my generation moves on to the eternal Green Place, I know you five will carry on our ways and the Many Mothers will live on, so I wanted to give you something, a piece of your heritage to pass on.”

Toast nodded, encouraging Giddy to continue. She hated hearing her grannies discuss a time after they had passed on, but she forced herself to focus on Giddy’s words.

“My great-grandmother was a witch, you know. She taught me everything I know, and Dag inherited her powers.”

In addition to tattooing, Giddy had passed on her knowledge of various spells and potions to Dag, although Toast wasn’t sure how much she believed in any of it. Even though Dag was no more a blood relative of Giddy’s than Toast was, she let that comment go; as Giddy and Dag would surely tell her, spiritual bonds were just as important as biological ones.

Giddy reverently passed Toast a ragged old red quilt that had been spread across her lap. “She sewed that by hand, and gave it to me when I was your age. I thought it was time to pass it on to you.”

Toast turned it over in her hands, admiring the tiny, careful stitches. Despite its age, it was in remarkably good condition.

“Thanks, Giddy, I really love it.” She pressed a kiss to her granny’s wrinkled cheek. “It’s so beautiful! But why give it to me now?”

Her granny gave her a sharp grin. “My great-grandmother was particularly skilled in fertility magic, which she poured into that quilt. It’s called the baby-making quilt, and generations of Vuvalini have been conceived under it, including your mother, Valkyrie, and myself.”

Toast tried to shove that unwanted mental image from her mind, and asked incredulously, “How did you know? That I’m trying to get pregnant, I mean. We haven’t told anyone, not even my sisters.”

She winked. “You aren’t the only Knowing one in the family, my dear. I know you don’t much believe in magic, but it’s certainly worth a try.”

Toast thought she had a point. There had been a time in her life when she thought she would never have any of this-a loving family, a happy relationship, an amazing job-and yet it had all come true. Was a baby-making blanket really that ludicrous of an idea? Besides, even if it didn’t magically make her pregnant, it would still serve as a reminder of her family and the happiness they found together.

**Author's Note:**

> This was the product of a combination of PMS and liking Josh Helman's haircut in the new X-Men movie.


End file.
